Thereare a few defining moments in a person's life. One of ours was an
encounter eleven years ago with a little cat, which had just been
abandoned by its owners several days before. (It was the cat that
actually approached us and "asked" if we would take him
home.)

It was clear
from day one that there was an extraordinary being locked away within that
furry, little body. He had been severely mistreated by his previous owners
and had a hard time coping with people in general. He spent a lot of time
by himself but slowly warmed up. The damage to his psyche was profound,
and it took him half of his short time on earth to overcome his innate
mistrust of humans.

During the first year we had him tragedy struck. He
developed a lethal cancerous sarcoma due to the negligence of a
veterinarian, who thought he could save time and money by giving animals
three-in-one vaccinations. (We never gave Seraphim another vaccination.)
We rebuffed surgery and sought instead alternative therapies. We
discovered an incredible book by Dr. Pitcairn called "Natural Health for
Dogs and Cats". This book literally saved Seraphim's
life!

For the next month Seraph bravely endured
massive amounts of Goldenseal powder, along with homeopathic and vitamin
support. He started having a toxic reaction every time we administered it.
But after a week or so we could already see the lump on his back beginning
to retreat. We got him off commercial cat food and onto a diet of raw
ground turkey meat. At the end of a month he was completely cured of a
basically incurable disease, and we were given ten more years with
our beautiful friend. This experience also marked the beginning of our
work with natural medicines and therapies, which has proven to be
endlessly rewarding.

The discovery of a miraculous book of the
Knowledge of Creation came soon thereafter: through The
Grail Message we learned about the existence of
the elemental beings. They are nature-beings, who work tirelessly
everywhere in nature, making trees and flowers grow, helping the animals
find food and guiding them along their migratory routes and much, much
more besides. They stand firmly and directly in the Power of God and work
in His Laws, the Laws of Nature. They are very different from human
beings in that they possess no free will, but only and always carry out
the Will of God in all their activities. That's why nature is always
beautiful - where man has not interfered with it - and why the Laws of
Nature are always perfect: the Will of God is expressed in Them.
For this reason, the natural medicines, derived from plants, herbs,
mushrooms, flowers, trees etc., have perfection built into them.
They possess what we would call "miraculous" curative qualities.
Unfortunately, the knowledge of the proper extraction process for herbs
has been lost, but even those extracts available today can produce
amazing results. To gain some insight into the varied activities of the
nature-beings, read "THE
INSTINCT OF ANIMALS" and
listen to "THE GODS, OLYMPUS AND
VALHALLA" in MP3 audio - 34
min.

After winning his battle with cancer with the help of the
nature-beings, Seraphim had to overcome another daunting challenge:
his aggressive habit of biting and nipping. We
helped him along with Dr. Bach's Flower remedies, classical music and
lots of love, but he had to do the work himself. Eventually, he succeeded.
And it was at that point that
his beautiful animal soul blossomed forth like a radiant rose, and he
became the most wondrous helper, whose selfless service and
devotion to his masters has left a deeply
inspirational and everlasting impression on our
spirits.

In the middle of our
busy lives we would often pause and thank Seraphim for being such a
great friend to us and for putting up with all our shortcomings. He
understood and was touched by our gratitude. It wasn't much compared to
what he gave us -

And the
experience is ongoing, even though he has left behind his aged, diseased
body. We continue to experience him daily on an intuitive
level, and he continues to offer us a great affirmation of our life's
purpose.

THE PROCESS OF
DEATH

"The process of dying in itself is nothing
but birth into the Ethereal World, similar to the process of birth into
the Gross Material World"

Since all of us will unavoidably have to
go through the experience of crossing over into the "next world" (Ethereal
World), the death of a beloved pet, with whom one has shared
a sizable stretch of a lifetime, provides a glimpse into this
process. It can serve as a kind of "dress rehearsal" for us, because the
actual process of detachment from the physical body is essentially the
same for both humans and animals. Death does not occur with "clinical
death", but is a gradual process of separation (or
detachment) of the real self from the physical
body.

"After the separation
the ethereal body remains attached to the physical body for a time as if
with a navel cord. The higher the soul now born into the Ethereal World
has already developed itself towards this Ethereal World during its life
on earth, the looser this cord will become.

The more a man's
volition has chained him to this earth, i. e., to gross matter, indicating
thereby a refusal to acknowledge any continuation of life in the Ethereal
World, the more firmly will this volition bind him with this cord to his
physical body and consequently also bind the ethereal body, which he needs
as a garment for his spirit in the Ethereal World.

The denser his
ethereal body is the heavier it becomes according to the prevailing laws,
and the darker it must appear. Such great resemblance and close relation
to matter makes it very hard for the ethereal body to detach itself from
the physical body, so that it happens in such cases that it must still
undergo and feel the last physical pains as well as the whole process of
decay. Neither does it remain insensible with
cremation.

After the final
severance of this connecting cord, the ethereal body sinks to that level
in the Ethereal World where its surroundings are of corresponding density
and weight. There, in this environment of equal weight, it will find only
those of similar tendencies. It is understandable that conditions there
are worse than when on earth in the physical body, because in the Ethereal
World all intuitive feelings express themselves in full force and
without restraint.

It is different
with those people who during their life on earth have begun to strive for
all that is noble. Because they bear within themselves a living conviction
about the step into the Ethereal World, the severance is much easier. The
ethereal body of such a person and its connecting cord are not dense.
Their texture is alien to that of the physical body, and this permits the
severance to be very quickly effected. Thus during the entire
so-called death struggle or the last muscular twitchings of the physical
body, the ethereal body is already standing
beside the latter, if indeed one can speak of a death
struggle at the normal death of such a person. The loose and slender
condition of the connecting cord prevents the ethereal being standing
beside the body from feeling any pain because, being so frail and light in
substance, this cord cannot transmit pain from the physical body to the
ethereal body.

Owing to its finer
nature such a strand severs the connection more quickly, setting the
ethereal body completely free in a shorter space of time to soar to the
region consisting of this finer and lighter substance. There it can only
find kindred souls and gain peace and happiness through the increasingly
high quality of the intuitive life. Such a light and less dense ethereal
body naturally appears brighter and more luminous, until finally it
becomes so transparent that the inner spiritual core begins to break
through radiantly before it enters the spiritual sphere as a completely
luminous radiant spirit.

Those, however,
who are present at a death bed should take warning not to break out into
loud lamentations! When the grief at parting is too strongly expressed,
the person in the process of detaching himself, or who is perhaps already
standing beside his body in ethereal form, may hear or feel it and be
emotionally disturbed by it. If then pity awakens in him, together with
the wish to say a few words of consolation, this again binds him more
strongly to his physical body through the desire to make himself
understood by the grief-stricken mourners.

He can only make
himself understood on earth by the use of his brain. This effort, however,
makes for a closer connection with the physical body, and indeed this is a
necessary condition. The result is that not only does an ethereal body
still in the process of detaching itself re-unite itself more closely to
the physical body but, if it is already standing detached beside the
physical body, it will be drawn back into it once more. The final result
is that he will once again feel all the pains from which he had already
been delivered.

When the process of
detachment is renewed it is much more difficult, and may even last for
some days. This brings about the so-called prolonged death struggle, which
becomes really painful and difficult for the soul wanting to depart. The
blame lies with those who, through their selfish grief, have called it
back from its natural course of development.

Through this
interruption of the normal course, be it only the weak attempt at
concentrating on making itself understood, a new and forced connection has
taken place. To dissolve this unnatural connection again is not so
easy for one who is completely
inexperienced in this matter. And, because it desired this reconnection
itself, no help can be afforded.

Such a connection can
easily be effected as long as the physical body is not yet completely
cold and the connecting strand, which often does not tear till after
many weeks, is still in existence. It is unnecessary suffering for the
dying man, a rudeness and want of consideration on the part of the
bystanders.

As we can see, those who are
present can greatly help or greatly hinder the departing soul (whether
human or animal) by their behavior and their attitude. Their degree of
enlightenment about the actual process of dying creates either more
or less favorable conditions for the departing one. It goes without
saying that the attitude that "at death all is over, and it's time to
beat one's chest and wail" is the most immature and the most
unhelpful to the departing soul. It is for this reason that all such
people should be escorted away - be it away from the death bed or from the
coffin or away from the grave site.

It is only natural, of course, to
be sad at the departure of the loved ones and to miss them greatly. But
shedding silent tears is very different from breaking out into hysterics.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER
DEATH

"Clairvoyants are able to observe the process of dying. In Shaw
Desmond's book "How you Live when you Die" (Rider & Co., London), he
says on pages 20/21:

'To come more nearly
to the consideration of what happens immediately after death, it should
be stated that death does not ensue instantly upon the heart ceasing to
beat. From what we have been told by the astral physicians and, indeed,
to a certain extent by actual observations in the sick room on this side
of death, the silver cord is not severed for a day to four or five days
after apparent death.

'The actual
separation takes only a few seconds. In that instant of
severance, the 'dead' person finds himself or herself looking down upon
his or her own body! It is an extraordinary moment. It is so if only
because for the first time the man or woman has found out that the
body was not himself or herself. That it was no more than a suit of
clothes or a dress with which one had finished and so was thrown
aside.'

The severing of the
silver cord is not always
easy.

Only man himself is
responsible for its condition, thus for its density and detachability.
The more he chains himself to earthly things the denser and heavier it
becomes, and with it also the ethereal body; hence in certain cases such
a man must feel not only the last earthly-physical pains, but also the
disintegration of his physical
cloak.

But in such a state
also cremation will not pass by the soul without leaving some trace. The
English poet H. Dennis Bradley asked a deceased person through a medium
about this, and received the following answer, which he published in his
book "Towards the Stars" (T. Werner Laurie, London), pages
264/265:

'In a sense you are wrong about the burning of
bodies ... On the other 'In a sense you are wrong about the burning of
bodies ... On the other hand, you are not quite right in believing that
this sudden and complete destruction does not wound. In a sense it does.
Because, as you know, there is a fragile envelope which surrounds the
soul as a tissue might, which fades away shortly after death. It is a
membrane, as it were, and this is very sensitive immediately after
death, for what you would call a few days or a week. If the body is
entirely destroyed, this membrane, which in a sense is still attached to
the body, is severely hurt. It suffers, and this is imparted also to the
discarnate part. So you must not smile completely at those whom you call
fools, who believe that the body is entirely severed from the other
parts at death. It is so after a very short time, but not immediately.
Before the soul and spirit leave the darkness in which they are brought
after they sever from the body, this membrane has withered away from
them, but not at once.'

The 'membrane' which
is still attached to the body, and which only later withers away, is the
so-called astral body, which after severance of the soul from the
physical body disintegrates with the physical body. The astral body,
which is dependent on the soul, is a mediator to the physical body. The
so-called "phantom-pains" point to the existence of the astral body.
People who have had a limb removed still suffer pains from time to time
in the same place where the limb used to be. This is because the
corresponding limb of the astral body cannot be removed along with it;
the astral body remains as it is.

It should be
mentioned here that there are people who even in their earth-lives can
leave their physical body temporarily with their ethereal body. This may
occur for instance during sleep. Also in such cases a connection between
the two bodies always remains through the silver cord, which according
to earthly concepts has an inconceivable capacity to
stretch.

The Bible describes
the awakening of the dead through Jesus, which He did as long as the
silver cord was not yet severed. Only in this way could the souls
already severing from their physical bodies return to
them.

From these
explanations it appears that the process of dying is not yet ended with
'clinical' death. There is also an astral body which in certain
circumstances dies only much later than the physical body. As long as
this astral body is still connected with the physical body and the
ethereal body, that is, as long as the connecting cord is not yet
broken, any interference with the dead physical body can be painfully
felt by the soul.....

Surely there can be no doubt that
in order to obtain a clear picture, physical death must be regarded not
only from this world but also from the beyond.

But contemplation of
this other, invisible side cannot be done with the intellect, which
itself is transient, thus of this world, because it is produced by the
frontal brain that perishes at death.

As little as it is
possible to drive in a nail with a goose-feather, so is no one in a
position to recognise or to grasp what is in the beyond, that is,
ethereal matter, with the gross-material brain, because the two are of
an entirely different species.

Hence the only
course open is to use the intuitive perception of the spirit, which has
a higher origin than have the Worlds of Matter, and which can therefore
view and understand all the visible and invisible connections in the
entire World of Matter.

And only from
this point of view must the increasing transplantations of
physical organs from the just deceased into living persons be regarded.
This is really a question of interference in man's personal sphere, to
which he is defencelessly relinquished, because he can no longer attract
attention physically to himself. But respect for one's neighbour, which
also includes his physical body, and the commandment to do no harm to
him whatsoever, applies not only to the earthly phase of life but also
beyond death.

What use then is the
consent given in ignorance of conditions in the beyond. The reality of
the Ethereal World, into which a small glimpse was given here, will soon
and painfully enlighten the departed soul.

Therefore such
experiments on the human being must cease, simply because hardly anyone,
not even the doctor concerned, can answer for the consequences of his
interference in the beyond; for he is ignorant of them and thus cannot
assess them. Moreover, Nature itself usually sets a limit through the
diversity and incompatibility of the tissue-groups, although attempts
are made even to break through this natural barrier.

Interference with
the dead physical body, which also includes dissection and cremation,
should, in the temperate zones, definitely not be undertaken within the
well-known three days, for it is to be assumed that in normal cases the
soul will only have severed itself from its physical body by the end of
that period. This would then in any case rule out the removal of parts
of the body for the purpose of transplantation, because such removal
would have to be carried out immediately after clinical death in order
to be at all clinically possible.

Nevertheless, not
only the doctors concerned but also those persons who wish to give
physical organs after their death, and equally the relatives of suddenly
deceased persons who must consent in their place, and last but not least
the recipients of such organs, must also consider what takes place in
the beyond, and base their decisions on that.

It is a different
matter, of course, when considering the widespread view of which the
basic idea is that after death it is "all over". With this kind of
thinking there can be no room for the reflection that at physical death
something that is living and not visible also severs from the physical
body, which through intervention in the physical body just laid aside
might be injured. Here the physical body is simply material from which
individual replacement parts are taken when needed.

Yet also with this
opinion the responsibility of those who think in this way is not
annulled before the Laws of Creation, either here or "there". For
ignorance of the Laws of Creation is no protection from its
consequences.

But for those who bear within them
the conviction of survival after death, physical death is birth into the
Ethereal Realm. Just as at birth into the gross-material, the earthly,
the navel cord is severed, so the silver cord is severed at birth into
the ethereal, the beyond. Death need not be feared by anyone who bears
within him the living firm volition for good, even if the resolution for
it has arisen only just before his physical death. It will help him
safely over the threshold, and on the other side helping hands will
carefully guide him on to that recognition which is still needed in
order to ascend towards the Light." (Herbert Vollmann, chapter "The
Silver Cord" from "A
Gate Opens")

SERAPHIM'S DEPARTURE

In Seraph's case, the actual severance of the
cord occurred just hours after his heart stopped beating. Such quick
and easy detachment is possible today almost exclusively for the animals
alone, because, unlike humans, they do not bind themselves to their
physical bodies through the wrongly held views on death. The animals
simply live through the natural process of detaching themselves without
opposing it with their "opinions" and are thus able to be helped along the
way by the numerous helpers on the other side. But human beings, even
those with the correct knowledge of the death process, often chain
themselves to the world of matter through some earthly predilection,
be it only a particularly strong attachment to one family member, the
separation from whom they especially fear and
dread.

No animal fears death; neither do they feel an
unnatural euphoria at the thought of it - only man is prone to
such unnatural extremes: either he thinks he will stop existing
altogether after death or else that he will be immediately
transported into Heaven, without having to learn anything about the
structure and the operational Laws of this Creation and without
having to atone for anything in a natural way, unrelated to the
established earthly rituals.

Speaking of naturalness, it is just from our
animal-friends (as well as from Nature in general) that we can learn so
much about what it really means to be "natural". But here, as
elsewhere, we have drawn many of our conclusions from merely
superficial observations.

"To be natural...does
not mean to go about half-naked or to disport himself barefoot in
eccentric clothing! To be natural means to listen attentively to one's
inner voice and not forcibly to disregard its
warnings!

"To be
natural...means to ascend, to strive upwards, following the attraction of
the Living Power! For where there is naturalness everything strives
upwards only, just like every blade of grass, every flower and every tree.
Thus what man's volition brought about unfortunately bears only an
external resemblance to that which he was supposed to
accomplish!" (Abd-ru-shin,
"IN THE LIGHT OF TRUTH: THE GRAIL
MESSAGE", chapter
"Life").

It goes without saying
that, like other pet owners who had a special relationship with their
pets, we would like to see our Phimsky again. Whether or not this will
happen depends entirely on the amount of spiritual progress we are able to
make in this lifetime.

In order to
orient ourselves in the geography of Creation, it is necessary to
know Its fundamental divisions or Spheres, which every creature will
have to traverse on the way upwards to his particular Sphere of
origin.

"To make clear
the difference in origin of man and animal it is necessary to go more
deeply into the various spheres of Creation than has been done
hitherto.

Such conventional
catch-words as the 'group soul' of the animal as distinct from the
personal 'ego' of man no longer suffice for this purpose, although as
such they are quite correct. For these give only a general outline and
deal with what lies nearest the earth, but do not indicate the
essential difference!

For the sake of a more
comprehensive view, the main spheres from above downwards are reproduced
here: -

1. The Divine:

Divinity
Unsubstantiate = God

Divine
Substantiality

2. Spiritual
Substantiality:

Conscious
Spiritual Substantiality

Unconscious
Spiritual Substantiality

3. Animistic
Substantiality:

Conscious
Animistic Substantiality

Unconscious
Animistic Substantiality

4. The Spheres of
Matter:

Ethereal
Substance

Gross
Matter

Man has his
spiritual origin in Unconscious Spiritual Substantiality, whereas the
animal has its animistic origin in Unconscious Animistic Substantiality.
There is a huge difference between these two spheres. The animating core
of man is spirit. The animating core of the animal, however, is
animistic substantiality.

In this case a
spirit stands above animistic substantiality; the origin of the inner
man is consequently higher than that of the animal, while both have only
the origin of their physical bodies in common. The spirit of man,
however, has over the ages developed his original purely animal body to
a higher state of perfection than was possible for the animistic
substantiality of the animal."

It is necessary to mention
that both humans and animals have to reincarnate on earth a number
of times before reaching sufficient inward maturity for
their climb/ascent upwards. Having acquired this maturity, the way is then
clear for a return Home. For the animals this Home is the Animistic
Sphere, while for humans it is the Spiritual Sphere. If we succeed in
acquiring sufficient spiritual maturity for ourselves here on earth, then,
after laying aside our physical bodies and traversing the Sphere of
Ethereal Matter, we will inevitably pass through the Animistic
Sphere on our way Home - and that's when we will experience the
joy of seeing our little Phim again!